Dr. Drew to headline benefit

Attention, fans of VH1’s “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew”: The host, Dr. Drew Pinsky, often described as the most listened-to doctor in America, will be here Sept. 24 to speak at a luncheon benefiting Arapahoe House.

“Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” is an unscripted reality show that follows several well-know figures as they seek treatment for their addictions at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Southern California. Participants in this, its third season, include actors Mackenzie Phillips and Tom Sizemore, retired basketball player Dennis Rodman and former madam Heidi Fleiss.

The event is presented by Friends of Arapahoe House and is being chaired by Judy McNeil. It will be held in the Donald R. Seawell Grand Ballroom at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Additional information about ticket prices and sponsorship will be released following a kickoff party in April that Sharon Whiton Gelt is chairing with hosts Sharon Magness Blake and Ernie Blake.

Members of the luncheon steering committee include co-presidents James and Kathy Crapo, Kristina Davidson, Adrienne Ruston Fitzgibbons, Linda Goto, Helen and Warren Hanks, Sarah Sena and Jaylene Smith. Judy McNeil’s husband, Charlie, will be rounding up corporate support with a group that also includes Lou Jahde, David and Nanette Kikumoto, Nick Lane, Melissa Reiss and Stan Sena.

With 14 locations and more than 20 specialized services, Arapahoe House is Colorado’s leading not-for-profit organization providing affordable drug and alcohol treatment to some 14,000 area residents per year.
Learn more by visiting arapahoehouse.org

Study after study has shown that when it comes to charitable fundraisers, Denver has more per capita than any comparably sized city in the nation. Joanne Davidson has been covering them for The Denver Post since 1985, coming here from her native California where she'd spent the previous seven years as San Francisco bureau chief for U.S. News & World Report magazine.